On 13 December 2023, Ambassador Tanee Sangrat hosted dinner in honour of the Honorable Julie Su, Acting Secretary of Labor, where he reiterated Thailand’s commitment to work closely with the U.S. to combat forced labor, child labor, and trafficking-in-person. Both sides also discussed promotion of labor rights for the vulnerable and marginalized groups, especially persons with disabilities. 

The case of El Monte Thai garment workers, who were victims of human trafficking and rescued in 1995, was also highlighted as the foundation of anti-human trafficking efforts in the U.S. It became known as the modern-day slavery case in the U.S. that raised interest and efforts in tackling human trafficking, resulting in a law passed by Congress in 2000, later known as the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), that required the State Department to submit the annual TIP Report until today. Acting Secretary Su herself was a leading attorney for the case and the Thai workers were inducted in the Department of Labor’s Hall of Honor in September 2023.